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Undid revision 925346783 by 2600:1700:C10:7760:BD66:1DA6:2114:AF7C (talk) your edit is not written in an encyclopedic tone, breaks existing references, and uses primary sources (contrary to wikipedia recommendations). your previous edits have already demonstrated that you are comfortable adding material that is not actually present in the references. use the talk page.
There is nothing wrong with the edits I made, nor is there any prohibition against using primary sources like supreme court cases. If you don't like the tone, FIX IT. That's not what you're doing. You're removing verifiable details about this man's history. Stop doing that. I haven't deleted large chunks of the article. I've only added. Don't like my additions? Fix them. Stop vandalizing.
Tags: Undo possible BLP issue or vandalism
Line 57: Line 57:


==Criminal history==
==Criminal history==
In 1987, Reed was implicated in the sexual assault of Connie York, a nineteen-year-old who had come home late one evening after swimming with friends. York was grabbed from behind and told “don’t scream or I’ll hurt you.” When York did not listen, she was repeatedly struck, dragged to her bedroom, and raped multiple times. Reed was interviewed, and, while he admitted that he knew York from high school, he denied raping her. When confronted with a search warrant for biological samples, Reed had an about-face, “Yeah, I had sex with her, she wanted it.” The case went to trial four years later, and Reed was acquitted.<ref>Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf</ref>


Reed was next implicated in the sexual assault of A.W., a twelve-year-old girl, who was home alone, having fallen asleep on a couch after watching TV. A.W. awoke when someone began pushing her face into the couch and had blindfolded and gagged her. She was repeatedly hit in the head, called vulgar names, and orally, vaginally, and anally raped. The foreign DNA from A.W.’s rape kit was compared to Reed; Reed was not excluded and only one in 5.5 billion people would have the same foreign DNA profile from A.W.’s rape kit.<ref>Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf</ref>
On September 1, 1987, Reed was arrested at Hirschi High School and charged with aggravated sexual assault. The sexual assault occurred on Aug. 25, 1987 in a northside Wichita Falls home to a 19-year-old woman. Reed insisted the sex was consensual and that he only beat her after they got into a fight. The jury acquitted Reed of the sexual assault.<ref name=timesrecord>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timesrecordnews.com/story/news/2019/11/06/wichita-falls-rape-case-put-rodney-rodell-reed-texas-death-row/4170727002/|title=How a Wichita Falls rape case helped put man convicted of murder on death row|first=Trish|last=Choate|website=Wichita Falls}}</ref> Immediately after the acquittal, another woman came forward to accused Reed of sexual assault; however, police felt the claim was not credible.<ref name=timesrecord /> Three years later, in Bastrop, Texas, he allegedly raped and sodomized his girlfriend in front of their children. The woman claimed that he was enraged after she kicked him out, but after filing a police report in which she described the horrific attack she declined to press charges.<ref name=corcoran>{{Cite web|url=http://www.michaelcorcoran.net/archives/3005|title=Who Is Rodney Reed?|date=December 31, 2013}}</ref>{{better reference needed}}


Then came Lucy Eipper, who Reed had met in high school, and whom Reed began to date after her graduation. Eipper had two children with
A year after the murder of Stacey Stites, Reed allegedly attacked Linda Schlueter in Bastrop after pushing his way into her car. The woman managed to escape and reach the police.<ref name=corcoran />{{better reference needed}} At this time Reed's DNA was collected from the previous sexual assault trial, and it was confirmed that his DNA matched the DNA in the semen found in Stacey Stites. When asked if he knew Stites, he insisted that he did not and committed his declaration to writing.{{fact}} After confronting him with the DNA evidence he was charged with aggravated sexual assault and capital murder on April 4, 1997.<ref name=kxan>{{Cite web|url=https://wx.kxan.com/html/rodneyreed/index.html|title=The Rodney Reed Case: Murder in the Lost Pines|first=David|last=Barer|date=April 22, 2015|website=KXAN.com}}{{dead link}}</ref> When Rodney's DNA was compared to several other unsolved rape cases in the area, additional matches were discovered. And since then additional strong accusations of rape have been made against Reed, including that of a vicious sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl, for which there is DNA evidence linking him to the act.<ref name=kxan /><ref name=intercept>{{Cite web|url=https://theintercept.com/2019/11/08/rodney-reed-death-row-texas/|title=Texas Prepares to Execute Rodney Reed Amid a Flood of New Evidence Pointing to His Innocence|first=Jordan|last=Smith|date=November 8, 2019}}</ref><ref name=corcoran />
Reed. Throughout their relationship, Reed physically abused Eipper, including while she was pregnant, and raped her “all the time,” including one time in front of their two children.<ref>Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf</ref>

Afterwards, Reed began dating Caroline Rivas, an intellectually disabled woman. 60.RR.39–41. Rivas’s caseworker noticed bruises on Rivas’s body and, when asked about them, Rivas admitted that Reed would hurt her if she would not have sex with him. Later, Rivas’s caseworker noticed that Rivas was walking oddly and sat down gingerly. Rivas admitted that Reed had, the prior evening, hit her, called her vulgar names, and anally raped her. The samples from Rivas’s rape kit provided the link to Stites’s murder.<ref>Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf</ref>

Shortly thereafter, and about six months before Stites’s murder, Reed raped Vivian Harbottle underneath a train trestle as she was walking home. When she pleaded for her life for the sake of her children, Reed laughed at her. The foreign DNA from Harbottle’s rape kit was compared to Reed; he could not be excluded, and only one person in 5.5 billion would be expected to have the same foreign DNA profile.<ref>Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf</ref>

Finally, and about six months after Stites’s murder, Reed convinced nineteen-year-old Linda Schlueter to give him a ride home at about 3:30 a.m. Reed led her to a remote area and then attacked her. After a prolonged struggle, Schlueter asked Reed what he wanted and Reed responded, “I want a blow job.” When Schlueter told Reed that “you will have to kill me before you get anything,” Reed stated “I guess I’ll have to kill you then.” Before Schlueter could be raped, a car drove by and Reed fled.<ref>Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf</ref>


==Claim of innocence==
==Claim of innocence==

Revision as of 14:46, 9 November 2019

Rodney Reed
Born (1967-12-22) December 22, 1967 (age 56)
NationalityAmerican
Criminal statusIn prison
Criminal chargeMurder, rape
PenaltyDeath
Details
Victims1
DateApril 23, 1996
Location(s)Bastrop, Texas
KilledStacey Stites
Imprisoned atAllan B. Polunsky Unit

Rodney Reed (born December 22, 1967) is an American criminal who was sentenced to death for the rape and murder of Stacey Stites in the town of Bastrop, Texas on April 23, 1996. He has resided on Texas Death Row since May 1998.[1]

His death sentence remains controversial. Reed's semen was found inside Stites' badly beaten and discarded body. His explanation for the semen, after initially denying that he knew Stites, was that he had consensual sex with her the day before her death. However, expert witnesses stated that sperm could not have survived inside her body for that long.[2]

His execution is scheduled to take place on November 20, 2019. Doubt over Reed's guilt led to bipartisan support for a stay of his execution.[3]

Criminal history

In 1987, Reed was implicated in the sexual assault of Connie York, a nineteen-year-old who had come home late one evening after swimming with friends. York was grabbed from behind and told “don’t scream or I’ll hurt you.” When York did not listen, she was repeatedly struck, dragged to her bedroom, and raped multiple times. Reed was interviewed, and, while he admitted that he knew York from high school, he denied raping her. When confronted with a search warrant for biological samples, Reed had an about-face, “Yeah, I had sex with her, she wanted it.” The case went to trial four years later, and Reed was acquitted.[4]

Reed was next implicated in the sexual assault of A.W., a twelve-year-old girl, who was home alone, having fallen asleep on a couch after watching TV. A.W. awoke when someone began pushing her face into the couch and had blindfolded and gagged her. She was repeatedly hit in the head, called vulgar names, and orally, vaginally, and anally raped. The foreign DNA from A.W.’s rape kit was compared to Reed; Reed was not excluded and only one in 5.5 billion people would have the same foreign DNA profile from A.W.’s rape kit.[5]

Then came Lucy Eipper, who Reed had met in high school, and whom Reed began to date after her graduation. Eipper had two children with Reed. Throughout their relationship, Reed physically abused Eipper, including while she was pregnant, and raped her “all the time,” including one time in front of their two children.[6]

Afterwards, Reed began dating Caroline Rivas, an intellectually disabled woman. 60.RR.39–41. Rivas’s caseworker noticed bruises on Rivas’s body and, when asked about them, Rivas admitted that Reed would hurt her if she would not have sex with him. Later, Rivas’s caseworker noticed that Rivas was walking oddly and sat down gingerly. Rivas admitted that Reed had, the prior evening, hit her, called her vulgar names, and anally raped her. The samples from Rivas’s rape kit provided the link to Stites’s murder.[7]

Shortly thereafter, and about six months before Stites’s murder, Reed raped Vivian Harbottle underneath a train trestle as she was walking home. When she pleaded for her life for the sake of her children, Reed laughed at her. The foreign DNA from Harbottle’s rape kit was compared to Reed; he could not be excluded, and only one person in 5.5 billion would be expected to have the same foreign DNA profile.[8]

Finally, and about six months after Stites’s murder, Reed convinced nineteen-year-old Linda Schlueter to give him a ride home at about 3:30 a.m. Reed led her to a remote area and then attacked her. After a prolonged struggle, Schlueter asked Reed what he wanted and Reed responded, “I want a blow job.” When Schlueter told Reed that “you will have to kill me before you get anything,” Reed stated “I guess I’ll have to kill you then.” Before Schlueter could be raped, a car drove by and Reed fled.[9]

Claim of innocence

Despite having insisted previously that he had not known Stites, his defense team claimed that he and Stites were in fact having a clandestine relationship.[10] To date, Reed has been unable to provide a single piece of physical evidence supporting his claim that he had been having a secret affair with Stites. His family supported his claim of a secret relationship with Stites at the trial. However, no such claims were forthcoming during the year before Reed was arrested, a time when police interviewed hundreds of people in the town.[11]

The defense has argued that there are weaknesses in the prosecution's case, such as the murder weapon never being tested for DNA evidence, as well as Stites' fiancé being a potential suspect.[12]

Reed is the subject of the documentary films State vs. Reed, produced by Frank Bustoz and Ryan Polomski, as well as Plea for Justice: Save Rodney Reed.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Texas Department of Criminal Justice Offender Search". offender.tdcj.texas.gov.
  2. ^ Burns, Catherine (2019-11-06). "Prisoner backed by Rihanna 'scared' of execution". Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  3. ^ "Texas state senators seek reprieve for death row inmate Rodney Reed". NBC News. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  4. ^ Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf
  5. ^ Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf
  6. ^ Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf
  7. ^ Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf
  8. ^ Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf
  9. ^ Rodney Reed v. The State of Texas, Supreme Court of the United States, No. 17-1093; https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/17/17-1093/45899/20180507150103836_Reed%20BIO%20FINAL.pdf
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference kxan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference corcoran was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ CNN, Darran Simon, Ashley Killough and Ed Lavandera. "The outcry to stop the execution of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed is growing. The support has 'bolstered him,' his attorney says". CNN. Retrieved 2019-11-09. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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